The Lines Between
by bite-or-avoid
Summary: One-shot inspired by a clip in the first Season 5 promo. *Spoilers* for Season 4 finale and Season 5! Booth, Cam, B/B implied


**Title**: The Lines Between

**Author**: Anna (bite_or_avoid)

**Characters**: Booth, Cam, Booth/Brennan implied

**Disclaimer**: Still not mine. Unfortunately.

**Spoilers**: Season 4 finale, Season 5 promo where Cam is heard asking Booth a certain question that shall remain unspecified for the spoiler-free.

* * *

**The Lines Between**

Years later, she'll become Officer Saroyan, a tough talking cop walking the worst beats the Bronx has to offer. Years after that, she'll become Dr. Camille Saroyan, chief forensic pathologist and head of the prestigious Medico-Legal lab at the Jeffersonian Institute in Washington, D.C. She'll become 'C', the would-be foster mother to a teenage girl who reminds her a little too much of herself, and a little too viscerally of the life she could have had if pride and strength had not been two of her sticking points. She'll become Camille, worldly and sarcastic, a woman with enough guts to go after what she wants and enough brains to know how to get it.

But before she becomes any of those things, any of those permutations of her ever-evolving self, she's just Cam, a smart-ass kid scrapping on the streets of South Philly.

Cam, whose friend Seeley sometimes shows up on her doorstep-- head hung low, hands dug deep in his pockets-- and she knows without asking that he needs a place to stay. Sometimes, he spends the night on her bedroom floor until her mother finds out and sends him home. Years later, he'll spend the night on more than just her floor as they tumble in and out, in and out, forever colliding like two particles in constant opposition.

Boy, do those collisions create some serious energy.

Forever only lasts until she almost dies and he draws a line that wasn't meant for her, yet is there regardless. But friendship knows no boundaries, and whatever else she is, or ever will be, she is his friend.

A friend who remembers silent tears, and bruises, and quiet words of anguish whispered in the dark.

A friend who sees the strong, well-adjusted man he has become, and knows first-hand that he is the walking embodiment of survival of the fittest.

A friend who teases and prods, and has the right to say things to him that he may not want to hear sometimes.

A friend who never forgets that his greatest fear, instilled in him at the hands of a weak, broken man, is that he isn't worthy of the selfless love he gives to others so freely, and that he forever needs to atone for sins that are not his to bear.

***

Years later, he'll become Sergeant Booth, a tough talking sniper wandering the worst places the world has to offer. Years after that, he'll become Special Agent Seeley Booth of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, one half of a crime-fighting duo with the best conviction rate in FBI history. He'll become Seeley, the loving father of a young boy who reminds him that innocence is worth preserving, and who he swears will never know the horrors his father has endured. He'll become Booth, strong and honorable, a man with enough heart to protect those he cares about and enough patience to attain that heart's desire.

But before he becomes any of those things, any of those permutations of his ever-evolving self, he's just Seel, a troubled kid trying to stay alive on the streets of South Philly.

Seel, whose friend Cam lets him into her home, no questions asked, offering more than just shelter. Sometimes, he spends the night on her bedroom floor, and whispers to her all the things he can never say in the light of day. Years later, he'll spend the night on more than just her floor as they tumble in and out, in and out, circling one another like two racecars on a never-ending track.

Man oh man, do those revolutions create some serious firepower.

It's only never-ending until he almost gets her killed and draws a line, for himself and someone else really, yet one that is there regardless. But friendship knows no boundaries, and whatever else they are, or ever will be, they are friends.

Friends who remember, without mention, mistakes the other has made.

Friends who see one another for who they are, without the luxury of rose-colored glasses.

Friends who tease and prod, and never pull any punches where the other is concerned.

Friends who never forget that their mutual greatest fear is not finding what they both long for, and having to settle for the affection they find in each other.

***

It both aggravates and relieves him, what Cam knows; not just who he is, but how he got here.

So, really, when it comes down to it, when he's got this huge _thing _burning a hole through his chest and begging to roll off his tongue every time he opens his mouth, who else can he tell?

"You're in love with Dr. Brennan?" she asks. Just to make sure she heard him correctly.

"In my dream, Cam. In my dream, I was married to Bren--- to Bones. And now I'm confused as hell."

She looks at him, lips curling softly.

There are things she knows about him that no one else does, and it passes with every look between them.

The way his eyes light up when she does…. that thing she does.

The way his voice sounds when his spirit is broken and defeated.

That he grips the lucky poker chip in his left pocket whenever his hands itch in yearning for the only vice he's ever allowed himself.

She knows him, sometimes better than he knows himself.

"You're in love with Dr. Brennan," she repeats, and it isn't a question.

She's Cam, and he's Seeley, and that's what they've always been to each other, nothing more and nothing less.

So it means something when she looks at him and says, with all the wry understanding that only she can offer--

"Of course you are."

_Fin._


End file.
